Don't Call Me Baby
by 554Laura
Summary: Why does Brennan hate that nickname so much? Just an idea that wouldn't leave me alone. One shot...


Temperance Brennan sat at the desk in her office, trying once again to type the evidence report Booth wanted to have ready to give to Caroline by four o'clock this afternoon. Sighing, Brennan checked over the notes in her file and then re-read what she'd just typed. Rolling her eyes as she caught all of her mistakes, she scolded herself soundly. "Dislocated left humeral head, not right...ribs 3 through 7 damaged on left side, not 4 through 8...Monteggia's fracture on the right, not the left...compound fractures of left tibia and fibula midshaft on right side, not right below the knee...all consistent with a fall from a considerable height after a violent struggle." She shook her head as she scrolled through the page on her monitor. "I have to be more succinct. I have to make sure I have the correct side of the body listed, and all of the fractures must be listed precisely, or it could damage our case. I can't believe I've made this many mistakes throughout the whole report. A first year anthropology student could do better on this report than I have this morning." Grumbling, she glanced at the clock on her computer. She'd have to hurry if she wanted to get finished soon enough to email the report to Booth so he'd have time to look it over before passing it on to DOJ…

Biting her lip again, she narrowed her focus on the computer's monitor, trying to block out any extraneous external stimuli. She told herself to concentrate, and being a strong willed woman, she expected nothing less than absolute compliance from her conscious mind. After all, today was just like any other day...she had a lot of work to do, and she had no time for distractions. Unfortunately, her subconscious mind was delving into the dreaded field of psychology, dredging up dates, details, and bad memories in an effort to derail her ability to work. Sighing in frustration at the stray thoughts that kept popping up in her head, she went back to the first page and began to read the report again.

"Hi, Baby. How's my daughter today?" Max ambled lazily into her office. "How about closing down your fancy computer so I can take my baby girl to lunch today?" Laughing jovially, Max came in and sat in the chair across the desk from Brennan. "Honey? Whaddya say? Lunch with your old man?"

"Dad, how many times do I have to tell you about that?" Brennan glared at her father as she stopped typing. "I thoroughly detest it when you call me a baby. Please do not use that sobriquet for me any more. If you truly love me as much as you say you do, you would no longer use that very demeaning term to describe me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do…" She clenched her jaw as she returned to her report. "You need to leave, Dad…"

"Aw, come on, Tempe. You know I'm just being affectionate. You're always gonna be my sweet baby girl…" Max reached over to pat Brennan's hand.

"That's enough." Brennan stood up from her desk and pointed toward the office door, raising her voice at Max. "I'm a grown woman, not a helpless baby. You need to leave now, Dad." Her hand shook as her voice cracked with rage. "You don't seem to respect my wishes, so I have no more to say to you. Get out of my office…"

"Tempe, what's wrong?" Max sat stunned at his daughter's sudden anger. "What's going on?"

"Nothing is wrong except your blatant disregard for my feelings. Isn't that enough, Max? I have work to do, and you're preventing me from doing it. I need to get back to work…"

"Okay, Honey. I'm sorry." Max rose quickly and moved toward the door. "I didn't mean to upset you like this. Maybe we can talk this over, and then get some lunch…"

"Leave! Now!" Sobbing, Brennan shuddered as she collapsed in her chair. "Just go away and leave me alone!"

Ducking out of the door as quickly as he could, Max paused as he got his phone from his pocket and hit the speed dial. "Booth...yeah, it's me. You need to come to the Jeffersonian as soon as you can. I think something's wrong with Tempe. No, I don't know what. She wouldn't tell me. No, listen...just listen, okay? She's sitting in her office right now crying hysterically. She kicked me out...yeah, really. Right now, okay? Thanks…"

Oooooooooo

Taking a deep breath, Booth tried to steady his nerves as he walked across the lab toward his wife's office. While he knew it wasn't unusual for her to be irritated or mildly upset with her father, it was completely unexpected for Max to provoke Bones enough to make her hysterical with anger. Seeing that the door to her office was closed, he grimaced. That was never a good sign…she rarely shut the world out like that any more.

Booth tapped on the glass in the door frame and waited quietly until Brennan acknowledged him. Glancing toward the door, she quickly wiped her eyes before gesturing for him to enter. She began typing furiously at her keyboard as he walked in and sat down across from her.

Pinching her lips together, Brennan struggled to maintain her emotional control. "I suppose Max told you that I was very angry with him and that I made him leave my office. I don't need you to rescue me from being angry, Booth. I'm perfectly capable of dealing with my own emotions. Max left when I asked him to, and I'm feeling much calmer…" She focused on her keyboard and avoided making eye contact with Booth. "I was slightly provoked, but as you can see, I'm fine now, and I'm endeavoring to complete the evidence report you requested…"

"Bones, what's wrong?" Booth reached over to clasp her hand. "I can see you're really upset about something. When you start using big words like 'endeavoring' it usually means you're upset or angry. I know you're trying to hide something from me…"

"I don't know what you mean, Booth. I'm no longer upset. I'm merely trying to finish this report as you requested me to do…"

"C'mon, baby. You know you can tell me anything...wait...what's wrong?" Surprised to see that Brennan had begun sobbing, Booth quickly moved around her desk to embrace her. "What happened? Have I done something wrong? You gotta tell me, Bones..."

She sniffled as she tried to explain. "Please don't call me baby. Remember, I said I hate that, right? Please don't…" Crying again, she pulled away from him, walking over to the couch and sitting down on the end farthest from him with her arms crossed protectively over her chest. "Don't call me a baby…"

Shaking his head in regret, he grimaced slightly as he held up his hands. "I'm sorry, Bones. I suppose I forget from time to time that you don't like that nickname. I'll try not to do it again…" Booth sat on the opposite end of the couch, watching as Brennan tried to regain emotional control. "Is that what made you so angry at Max? He called you his baby girl, right?"

Brennan nodded as she bit the inside of her cheek. "It was quite irrational...but it seemed I couldn't help myself this morning. I was furious with him before I realized what was happening." She held her hand out to Booth so that he'd move closer to her. "I tried to ignore the date on the calendar when it popped up on my computer, but I couldn't help remembering. That's probably why Max came by to see me to begin with..."

Putting his arm around Brennan, Booth shrugged. "What's so special about today?"

"Today was my mother's birthday." Brennan sniffled again as she got up to get a tissue from her desk drawer. Pacing the floor of the office, she paused to wipe her eyes and nose before she told Booth the rest of the story. "I had been in foster care for about four months when her birthday came up on the calendar. I vividly remember seeing the date on the calendar hanging on the kitchen wall in my foster parents' house. I'd begun to cry…" Brennan hesitated, trembling as she remembered what happened. "I tried to control myself, but I couldn't. I still missed her so much…I was sobbing loudly..."

"Of course you cried. You were still young, and the wound was still fresh. That would be perfectly normal." Booth nodded in agreement. "Of course you still missed her…"

"My foster father became quite angry because I was crying so loudly. He came into the kitchen, scolding me because I had prevented him from hearing the weather news on television. It was raining that day, and he wanted to know how longer it was going to rain during the week so he could make plans for the weekend. He began to yell loudly at me, telling me to quit being such a baby...that my parents had abandoned me because I was such a horrible child, and I was getting what I deserved, so I should just shut up and take it like an adult." Trying to choke back a sob, Brennan inhaled sharply. "However, I couldn't stop crying...and then my foster father slapped me in the face over and over, telling me to stop crying or he'd give me something to really cry about. Only little babies cry, he said, and I wasn't a baby...why was I acting like such a baby? He wanted me to stop crying, but he kept hitting me, and it hurt so much, and it made me cry even more...I was crying like a baby even though I was old enough to know better...I didn't want to be a baby any more…I never wanted to be a baby...I asked him to please stop...I said I wouldn't act like a baby anymore. I promised that I'd act like an adult, but he kept hitting me because I wouldn't stop crying, and then he made me sit outside in the rain until I could stop crying...until I could be quiet. I remember how my clothes were drenched and I began to shiver…."

"Shhh, Bones…" Booth took Brennan into his arms and let her cry quietly as he gently kissed her temple. "I'm so sorry that happened to you. Your foster father was wrong to treat you that way...you know that, right? He was being a goddamn bastard, hitting you like that and making you stand in the rain. You didn't do anything wrong…it's perfectly normal to cry when you're sad…"

"I think I was so angry with Max this morning because he was part of the reason I was in that bad situation to begin with…" Brennan sniffled as she embraced Booth. "I often think I've finally forgiven him for everything that's happened, and then something comes along and brings all of the anger back…if he and my mother hadn't abandoned me, I wouldn't have been in foster homes where people beat me..."

"That's normal, too, feeling like that about Max. You have a right to be angry." Booth stroked her hair as he spoke softly. "You'd been through some terrible things while you were in foster care, Bones. It amazes me that you've held yourself together as well as you have." He paused, smiling sadly at her. "It's gonna take a long time until you're completely over everything that happened to you, and it may be a long time until you have forgiven Max completely, but, the good news is that you don't have to deal with that shit all by yourself, you know? I'm gonna be right here to help you every step of the way, alright?"

"Alright." Wiping her tears away, Brennan nodded and finally gave Booth a faint smile. "I know when you call me 'baby' it's because you love me, but it seems I'm not completely in control of my emotions today…"

"Don't worry about it, Bones. This just means that I need to come up with another pet name for you, since you don't want me to call you 'Baby', you know?" He winked at her as he thought through the possibilities. "How about 'Bubbles'?" Laughing as he saw his wife's horrified look, Booth shook his head. "I guess not. Not dignified enough for someone in your position, right? Maybe 'Beautiful'... That sounds good, and it's factual…"

Brennan chuckled at her husband's attempt to cheer her up. "I don't know...people might think you're being ironic…"

"I know! How about 'Doc'? When I came to see you here at the office, I could say 'What's up, Doc?' That would be really cool, isn't it?" Booth gave her a kiss. "I like it. Give me a kiss, Doc…"

"Booth…" Laughing, Brennan shook her head at her husband's silly sense of humor. "I need to work on that report, remember?" She grinned sheepishly at him. "Do you think you can call Max and ask him to come for dinner this evening? I think perhaps I should tell him why I was so upset with him today..."

"Yeah, Doc, anything you want." He jumped out of the way as she tried to poke him in the ribs. "I gotta get back to work, okay? I'll talk to you later." He gave her another kiss before he turned to leave. "I love you, Bones…"

"I love you, too, Booth." Sitting down at her computer again, Brennan began to type quickly, glad she'd been able to reveal what had happened to her that day, and relieved that she no longer had to retain the bad memories that the date had held for so many years. After a few minutes of typing, she paused and, saving her work, she closed the document before pulling her mother's picture up on her computer screen. Reaching out to gently touch the image, Brennan smiled to herself. "Happy Birthday, Mom."


End file.
